Household Dynamics - HEDON Household Energy Network

GTZ NEWS
News
Impacts of stove project in Kenya
The Kenyan stove project (carried out in Transmara, Western and
Central Clusters) started in 2006. It is integrated into the GTZ
programme for Private Sector Development in Agriculture (PSDA)
and part of the ongoing German/Dutch collaboration within
the Programme “Energising Development” (EnDev). The stove
types promoted included the Jiko Kisasa with a firewood saving
potential of 40% and the Rocket Mud Stove (RMS), which has a
saving potential of 60%. Prices for households vary from 100 and
250 Ksh for Jiko Kisasa and from 200 and 250 Ksh for the one
pot-RMS and from 250 to 500 Ksh for the two pot-RMS.
An impact assessment study was conducted in 2007 to
assess what impacts have been realized from the two years of
stove work in the current project. For this, 500 households
were interviewed with standardised questionnaires, as well as
22 stove dealers and 16 restaurant owners. Six focus group
discussions were conducted with women.
Higher stove adoption rate in households
Households using improved cooking stoves have increased
from about 5% (2006) to 38% (2007). The main objective of
the stove project was to provide 738,450 people with improved
household stoves by June 2009. This objective has been largely
met: 378,707 households possess an efficient stove, providing
1,893,538 people with improved cooking energy by June 2009
(household multiplied by 5, which is the average family size).
A large variety of stoves were found in the interviewed households.
Only 21% of ICS households use the three-stone-fire daily. This
indicates that ICS households seem to abandon the traditional
fireplace in favour of the improved stove in everyday cooking.
Income generation
Stove production has become a real business with an average
monthly production of 337 Jiko Kisasa liners per producer
and an average monthly income of 10,000 to 20,000 Ksh
(about 100€ to 200€). Capacity building has been a key factor
in embedding entrepreneurship skills to various players to
undertake stove activities with a business orientation. Income
generation remains the major motivation for most players.
One third of them make their living out of stove business as a
primary source of income. In any case, most of the stove dealers
consider stove activity as an important contribution to their
income, often making up more than half of the total household
budget. The income enables them to pay for hospital bills and
their children’s education. Others invest in milk cows, chicken,
stocking of JK liners etc.
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Editor
Lisa Feldmann and Agnes Klingshirn
HeRA, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
GmBH, Postfach 5180, 65726 eschborn.
email: lisa.feldmann@gtz.de
Impacts on women users of ICS
According to the interviewed women improved cooking stoves
influence daily life in a positive way. Time gained due to fast
cooking and money saved for firewood impact most of the
poverty criteria. The surplus in time was used for farming, income
generating activities, girls’ education and women’s participation
in community life. The money gained was used for items of daily
need. Health improvements due to reduced smoke emissions and
reduction of accidental burns of children were also considered as
an improvement of the living conditions.
Benefits for restaurants
Fuelwood savings, fast cooking and money savings are the most
important advantages cited by almost all restaurant owners.
For big restaurants, the smoke reduction is also considered very
important. Small restaurants save an average of 100 Ksh per day
for fuelwood while big restaurants save about 600 Ksh per day.
Accordingly, the pay-off period for a Rocket stove with two pots
and a market price of 10,000 Ksh is about six to nine weeks.
A firewood Jiko Kisasa with one pot hole (300 Ksh) or two pot
holes (600 Ksh) will be paid off after a couple of days.
The study can be accessed at: www.gtz.de/hera
Figure 1: Woman cooking on a Jiko Kisasa
HERA – new mandate
Since December 2008 GTZ’s former household energy
programme HERA has a new mandate: poverty oriented basic
energy services. The aim of the new programme is to promote
innovative concepts for improving basic energy access for
households, social institutions and small enterprises. Besides
cooking energy, the focus of HERA will now also be on energy
services for lighting, heating, electric appliances, etc for low
income groups. HERA is carried out on behalf of the German
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.